#11: Jaimee Newberry from Picture This Clothing on Building a Viral Business (Part 3)

Mei: Jaimee will share her third and final tip on how she built her business.

Jaimee: I have one more point that I wanted to share. It’s being supportive of others in your space. What you do and what I do they’re different, but we probably have a lot of overlap in our customer base I would guess. When I saw what you do, the first thing I wanted to do was share it. Share it on the Picture This page, share it on my personal Twitter, buy the things, I wear it everywhere, and I am so excited to share what I got from you. I can’t tell you how many times people get protective, defensive, and competitive for a customer base. We’re so much stronger when we work together and help each other. There’s are many people out there, we can all do well! Being supportive of other people is the pay it forward type of mentality. I would love to see that more in small business.

Mei: Absolutely. Jaimee, we covered a lot of stuff. Did you have a third tip?

Jaimee: Yes, that was sort of the third thing! Be supportive of others. They all kind of bleed into each other. There’s product being the connective tissue, customer service, and be supportive of others. If I had to throw one thing that I’ve learned on top of everything that’s kind of outside the spectrum of what we talked about, it’s something that I’ve had to learn the hard way – take care of yourself. I learned this through extreme back pain, inability to walk for a while, and having to go to physical therapy. I take care of myself now, but it’s only been since May last year. I feel amazing and I feel like it feeds my brain with the right energy. Make sure you’re getting sleep, you have help, and if you need support there’s a community out there and we’re willing to offer a listening ear or a supportive shoulder. Sometimes not only being that person but seeking that is okay. Take care of yourself because the better you are the better you are for others and the better your products are as a result.

Mei: It’s hard for us to let go of control and admit we need help.

Jaimee: So true!

Mei: That’s really great advice, Jaimee. I totally agree with that too. When you get to that point of burnout it’s really hard to get yourself out of that rut.

Jaimee: So hard! I did a talk on that a couple of years ago. It’s a bad place to be and you can usually see the burnout coming and it’s a very dangerous territory. It can be toxic not only to you but to those around you.

Mei: Did you have any exciting things that you’re looking forward to this year?

Jaimee: We’re getting ready to launch T-shirts! Once we get youth T-shirts out we will have adult sizes as well, so we’re really excited about that. Then we’re just going to keep working on expanding our product options. I’m also looking forward to maybe taking a day off here pretty soon. We got an office space so we’re going to move the shop out of my living room and into the office space.

Mei: I can’t believe you’re still doing it in your living room!

Jaimee: Start small and focus, right? I’m a little overwhelmed by the stuff taking over my home, so we’re ready for the office space. We should be fully moved in by Monday.

Mei: That is so exciting! Thank you for sharing all your experience with us! We’re definitely going to stalk you around because you’re doing so many great things.

Jaimee: Thank you so much! It’s an absolute honor to have this conversation with you. I am completely obsessed with things you’re doing and I look forward to staying in touch with you. I encourage people to reach out as well and say hi!

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I'm Mei ('may') from Minneapolis. I want to help you build a sustainable, profitable handmade business that makes you consistent income and sales. I only ever teach or recommend marketing, social media, pricing, production and branding tips that I've personally used in my own handmade business and that I know work. Read More…